... 9th of September 2047 ...
( Scrape - Acoustic By Blue Stahli would play here )
The blade of the axe was dull, but it didn't stop it as it was swung down onto the small piece of wood to split it into two. It was now ready to for the fire, Jake held the fireaxe. Moving the dry, split firewood to the side before applying another one. The nature of the surrounding area within the forest was peaceful, nothing around except more trees. He'd raise the axe and bring it down a lot harder, letting it split perfectly in two before dropping it to the floor. Gathering the wood and carrying them to the extinguished fire. Around this firepit, was multiple tents. People had even set up treehouses in the surrounding trees above, this fenced off campsite embedded in the deep forest was their home.
As he dampened a rag with kerosene, he'd lay it along the top of the wood and use a lighter to let the fire burn. Feeling the warmth of the flame heat and warm his cold bones. He'd sit along the dirt, his uniform and pants were already dirty enough so he didn't care too much about the grime he could pick up. The beautiful light of the fire would be reflected in his eyes, his expression was dead. He had the wits of a sociopath, no care whatsoever and only hate or bitterness behind his eyes. He felt all alone in this world, he missed his wife. It had been years but to him it felt like yesterday. Looking at his hand, the wedding ring was gone. He'd move it to his neck and feel the loose thread of string that held the wedding ring around his neck. He had turned it into a necklace.
A shark from one of the main, big tents would walk out and approach the man. Dressed similarly to Jake, wearing police Riot gear with body armour. Sitting next to him alongside the fire as it burned, embers flying along the air. "They didn't kill him, he managed to survive. Our stalkers radioed in and let us know they're transporting him, down the road south of the Stadium. Most likely taking them to Turner Town or somewhere to have them either killed or tortured for information." Ragnarok, the shark was the leader of this camp it seemed, speaking down to his trusted associate with a job to do. They were the rebels, they hated everything the Musician stood for.
Jake looked up at him, grumpy and tired was evident as much in his expression as in his voice too "What do you want me to do about it?" Ragnarok grunted, bashing his shoulder a little bit "You think this is the time to unwind? We were expecting one of our boys to be mauled again in that Stadium and he comes out alive. Look, there's leftover road spikes, go out there. Lay it along the road and kill the drivers along with anyone inside who may be brainwashed by that fucker. Do I make myself clear? I'm coming with you either way, you're fucking dependable, I need you.. And I need you tough."
Standing up, his shotgun was on a strap drapped over his shoulder. Gripping it and pulling it up, holding it with two hands. Annoyed he spent that time chopping firewood only to be ordered away. "Tell Johnny to get the spikes, I'll make my way over with the other two that come out on jobs like this. I'll set them up, they shouldn't be too close." Ragnarok nodded, standing up and heading over to the tent again to get his other associate. Others would watch from the small wooden balconies of the treehouses above. Wondering what they were up to.
Jake walked off, his feet crunching against the many leaves that had fallen in this section of the forest. Looking over towards a tent and whistling to a friend of his "Mike, Grab Zeke and tell em' to come with me out to the open road to the west. We're setting an ambush with railroad spikes, Johnny will let you know what to do, Rags is gettin' him now." His shouting voice was monotone, deep and scarred emotionally. It harboured a lot of pain, yet he continued just like Jaklo. Walking out into the clearing of the forest and approaching the road.
The overgrowth was a little hard to get by, the various roots sticking out of the floor made traversing through the forest fairly tedious. The road was no better, the second he laid eyes on it the Jackal would grunt and kneel down in the leaves to wait. Looking up and down the cracked and unmaintained road that seemed to stretch out for miles and miles on either end, nothing but treelines and leaves that covered the dry asphalt and concrete that made up the long, lonely road.
He was followed by Johnny and Ragnarok, something that looked like a chain was wrapped around his shoulder. Ragnarok would inform him where to place it "We ain't got long, throw it down there and it should be enough to stick to the tires and bring it off the road." Jake watched as Johnny shrugged, walking forward and throwing the road spikes down. In a satisfying manner it rolled right out across the road as expected. Taking his toothpick out of his mouth, Jake began to argue a bit with the plan "Could hurt our boy inside the transport by doing that, what if it goes off track and he's killed inside?" Jake laid it down clear, causing Ragnarok to cross his arms, shaking his head in disapproval.
"You're a cop, you should know how transport vans work. I reckon they have them chained to the floor of the van, they ain't gonna be moving. Besides, no one is around here but us.. they ain't gonna be expecting shit.. Now be quiet, watch for that car and stay hidden in the tree line.. that way our friends won't be getting suspicious." The jackal sighed, putting the toothpick back into his mouth and grabbing his shotgun from his shoulder. Checking the shells within it, and the shells he had on him.. He was fine, he had enough shells to shoot up an entire town if he wanted.
With that thought in mind, he quickly lowered his head behind a bush. The rest of the people there followed, a car silently approaching from over the hill and growing more and more closer. The rumbling of the engine slowly became deafening in the silence of the nature stricken road, soon the loudest thing that could be heard was the sudden hissing of the tires. The van running right off of the road and directly into a tree before toppling over in the slope that led down into the vegetative clearing, it was perfect. Jake got up and followed suit with Ragnarok and Johnny as they approached the back of the toppled van.
"JOHNNY, CHECK THE DRIVERS. IF THEY AIN'T DEAD YET.. MAKE EM'" Ragnarok shouted, Jake would stay quiet as he approached the back. The engine stalling and soon coming to a quiet halt, Jake would peer into the back of the van and stare. He saw, colour.. Red, Green and a hint of Blue.. A fur pattern he recognised, it caused his guard to drop and his expression to change. He felt nostalgic, but in an angry way.. lowering his weapon for a moment as his eyes locked with.. this person "You..?-" The Police officer would whisper. The smoke coming from Ragnarok's cigar was blinding, he would move closer just as the rest of the team began to pry the other van door off.
"The drivers are dead, his skull is caved into the fucking wheel hahah!" One rebel would yell back, Jake was still silent. Clutching his shotgun tightly as Semper stepped out of the van and onto the grass, the rest of the people would follow alongside him and were injured from the crash, thankfully their injuries didn't look severe. The moment Jaklo stepped out, Jake raised his shotgun towards him and aimed. "I know this one.. he's a criminal.. he's associated with that damn Musician." The jackal said, finally showing the anger in his expression finally with a growl. Semper was confused, approaching Jake and patting his shoulder "He ain't one of them you fool, those boys helped me out back there.. They put an armoured bat on us."
Jake wouldn't fold to that however, he shook his head and responded "Well it should have tore them apart, these bastards are nothing but trouble. They are associated with him.. they're gangsters.. the lot of em'" With that, Jaklo decided to stand up for himself. The crash wasn't too well on his friends, Rasmus' was hurt and Ellis looked like he had broke a rib. "Gangsters? We were the only good people in that shithole of a city. Musician is and always has been our sworn enemy, same with Krover."
Logically this was a good point, even Ragnarok was agreeing to an extent despite the fact he was also a policeman. But Jake, felt this vendetta overwhelm him. Something he couldn't shake, he needed everyone associated with the Musician dead. "I know who you are. I think it's sketchy, Jaklo. Sketchy that you went to the same Orphanage as him. Kept in contact with him years after the fact when he was shipped off to be poked and prodded at in that laboratory." Jake stated, pointing his shotgun closer to Jaklo "After my wife died, I looked up every single tie in with him.. I wanted to kill everyone he loved, and I still will.. Why do I feel like I've known you my entire life?" The jackal would ask, the raccoon wouldn't know how to respond. His fur was standing on end, he was ready to defend himself at any given point.
"I feel a connection with you.. I don't know what it is though, can't we just get along? We have enemies in common. What's stopping you, officer?" Jaklo stood closer, trying to be as convincing as possible to him. This wasn't working, Jake growled louder and sneered in his response "What's stopping me? Justice needs to be served you little shit." The delusions had taken over at this point, Jaklo knew a buckshot was about to launch out from the barrel of his shotgun and did the first thing he knew what to do. Reaching for the barrel and successfully pushing it upwards, delivering a sucker punch to Jake's head and taking off in a sprint right for the treeline. He knew his friends wouldn't be able to run, they're injured. Somehow, Jaklo wasn't that injured. He'd run for dear life, shouting and gunfire would bruise the floor he sprinted on.
Despite the running from several hunters that seemingly wanted him dead, Jake was hot on Jaklo's trail but he couldn't care less. The adrenaline boosting him throughout the forest and through the vegetation, shouting and raving could be heard in the distance. His legs weren't giving up on sprinting any time soon and neither was Jakes. After a fight like that back at the stadium, he didn't know how much more he could dodge the cold embrace of death with his power.
Ellis attempted to run after him, being quickly stopped by Ragnarok with a hand on his chest "He's got that little fucker, don't you move. He's that criminal isn't he?" The dragon looked up upon the shark, sighing deeply and refusing to elaborate, listening to the gunfire and shouting coming from the forest. Luckily, he had ran in the opposite direction of their camp.
"YOU GOTTA LISTEN TO ME!" Jaklo shouted back in between breaths, he surely wasn't going to die to a man who he had an equal enemy with. All the raccoon got in response was a buckshot that crashed into the side of a tree, sending Jaklo into his sprint again. Looking over his shoulder at the man who was in a fast and steady pursuit, shotgun in one hand and shells in the other. He wasn't messing around, neither was Jaklo who was dramatically faster than his focused pursuer.
In a moment, it happened almost instantly. A ghost.. would zoom past him, he didn't know what it was. It startled him so much that it almost sent him off of his feet. What he saw was a visage.. an extremely fast visage of a sprinter, being pursued by another man. It felt like they had been running for centuries, to absolutely no end. The sprinting spirit would call to him, speaking with the raccoon. "Follow alongside me.. I can get you out of this purgatory. That man will soon chase me too."
It was like a subconscious of another person, he was trying to help him. The hollow and see through visage of the two runners would guide him, the raccoon sprinting after him in full pursuit down the path and away from Jake. By this point, his legs were beginning to hurt from all the sprinting on the uneven ground. He was sick of this forest, he wanted nothing to do with it. In fact, he felt homesick. Even to a cruel and urban place like Stardown.
"I've always wanted to be in the Olympics." The spirit was talking to itself it seemed, not to the raccoon. Or he was talking to the man chasing him, was it another Outsider? This power was strange, he simply couldn't understand what it was but it was his only bet to finding somewhere hopefully secure and away from the never-ending forest.
(Scrape - Blue Stahli would play here.)
There came a point where the path seemed to end and the tree-line made itself known, the ghosts of the past.. or the future in front of him would vanish into thin air, it was like watching a recording of something that happened already.. Time felt even more strange, he had no time to ponder on it however. He used up the last of his adrenaline to run right out of the forest through the clearing and was met with a neighbourhood. He was in someone's backyard, it looked like this place hadn't been explored in years. Vines were growing up along the damp and unkept wood. Without a moment to lose, he'd sprint right through the door and shut it, pressing his back against it as he listened to the sound of vegetation and grass moving outside.
"Like I said, You got to fucking listen to me. You think I wouldn't kill the Musician in a heartbeat?" There was a moment of silence after Jaklo stated this, his heartbeat was racing and his fast breaths were faltered before he got a response from his soon to be killer if he didn't fight. "He killed my wife in a heartbeat, he has a connection with you. Doesn't he? Killing you would mean the world to me and a world of pain to him.."
A shotgun shot would obliterate the wooden door, narrowly missing the raccoon's head as he trips forward. Getting up and heading into the next room, slamming the door shut. "I didn't have nothing to do with killing your damn wife, you're crazy! snap the fuck out of it man." Instead of a shotgun shot destroying the door, it was kicked in and sending the raccoon back and away from it. Rolling onto the living room carpet as an angry Jake storms in, dropping his loaded shotgun to the floor and lifting the raccoon by the collar of his jacket. "I'm stronger than you.. You can't do shit to me, can you? I'm finally stronger than all of you little runts." Before the raccoon could retaliate, Jake would hurdle him towards the TV. Thanks to his agility, he was able to grip onto the table it rested on and stop his head from smashing into it.
"Stronger? What the fuck do you mean?" He'd send a kick towards Jake's stomach, it should have hit. It was fast and unexpected but somehow with lightning speed, like he.. knew it was going to happen.. his foot would be grabbed and dragged, where he would be punched in the face. "You're nothing more than a weakling now, look at you.. I'm gonna fucking kill you, like you killed my wife." Jake was batshit insane, there was no doubt. The years of tribulation after the fact where his wife was murdered was hard on him. Jaklo would continue trying to retaliate but it seemed like every time, Jake would know immediately what he was going to do.
Before Jaklo could hurdle any more punches or kicks, he would be punched in the neck, leaving him temporarily immobilised and struggling to breathe before the same fist was slammed into his nose. His body didn't want to budge, his voice was weak and only sharp wheezes and crackles escaped his mouth as he laid along the floor. Watching his attacker stand up and grab his shotgun "H-Ha.. Have you- lost your fucking mind?"
Jake turned back around to him, clutching the shotgun tightly as his lip quivers with an anger and sadness mixed into his expression. Standing over the raccoon and taking a sharp breath in before speaking "Maybe I have, or maybe I'm the only sane one in this world of madness. Is madness really.. considered crazy anymore?" Jake shook his head and sucked his teeth, aiming the shotgun down and exploding Jaklo's head into the carpet of the once lovely living room. Not giving him a moment to speak. "I guess it isn't.. you were just another cog in that bastards machine, they all said the same thing when they saw my shotgun."
As he turned to leave, suddenly. Time felt like it was warping, Jake was familiar with this ability but he didn't feel like he was in control of the Pre-Cognition anymore. It felt like time was literally reversing and to him it was, his body forcefully turning around and reconstructing the situation that just played out. Watching as Jaklo's head reconstructs itself and the bullet used to destroy it was sucked back up into his shotgun along with the smoke exerted from it.. Instead of firing again, he was left in utter shock. "You-.. You can do that too?"
The raccoon let out a pant, grabbing the barrel of his shotgun before even speaking and forcing it back to slam into Jake's Groin. Quickly standing up, ripping the shotgun from his hand before speaking. "I've had this power for much longer than you have.. I've seen what you do, you don't even create backups.. What if someone came from behind and knifed you in the throat. You realise how difficult that'd be to pre cognate out of? Welcome to Ouroboros."
Jake growled, before Jaklo would utilise the shotgun he was rushed without warning. This was going to be a never-ending fight, only issue was that Jake has the upper hand since Jaklo had most of the P-Ouroboros in his blood replaced years ago. The shotgun would be latched out of his hand and in a fit of rage, the raccoon would be grabbed by the collar once again and hurdled out of the window, crashing through it and rolling onto the dead grass along the front lawn.
Even though he was in agony along the floor, he felt this wasn't time to use his ability again. Jaklo had to savour every moment he could pre cognate with each time he'd endure a fatal wound, with no time to waste he would stand up and stumble around on the grass. Using the leftover adrenaline in his body to book it across the street to the next house where he'd get inside without issue, slamming the door shut and taking off his jacket. Throwing it to the floor and rolling up his sleeves as he stumbles into the kitchen, retrieving a knife and staring right out the window.
It was a pretty terrifying sight, someone with the exact goals in mind and the same determined personality was wandering right across the road with a shotgun clutched in his hand. Heading for him, like an unstoppable force. The only thing that made them different was the fact he was a cop, and Jaklo was a criminal. Jake would stop in the middle of the road, his expression was fierce. The hand clutched his shotgun and aimed it towards the window where the raccoon had barely any time to react. The window would shatter completely as he dropped to the floor, crawling for a moment to the next room before returning to his feet and entering the living room.
But then Jaklo stopped on the spot, thinking to himself as he stood like a statue in the living room. He knew how his ability worked, he knew that Jake had the same power as him somehow. And he knew that he could've lined up that shot easily hundreds of times to kill him, Jake didn't want to kill Jaklo. It was almost as if he was toying with him, there was thousands of possible times he could have killed him. Jake Is Stronger, he has more Ouroboros in his blood. This made Jaklo smirk a little, turning around just as the door was kicked open and speaking. "So what happened with you?"
Jake stopped in the doorway, narrowing his eyes and dropping the shotgun. "What the fuck do you mean what happened to me?" Jaklo stood still, suddenly dodging a punch just as Jake went to attack. The raccoon raising his fists just as Jake did, both of them on guard and circling around in the living room with eyes locked onto each other. "I'm guessing it was your wife, that's what did it right? You know.. for me it was my mother." Jaklo said as confidently as possible, they'd both start throwing punches. None of them were landing, the both of them were literally playing a mental game with each other considering they both had the ability block and dodge at will.
"You don't talk about my fucking wife- you degenerate." Jake snarled at him, dodging a punch from Jaklo as the world around them seemed to get dark. Both of them were focusing immensely, Jaklo's nose began to bleed and sniffle. Jake's nostril was already bloody, they were going to fight to the end of the universe at this point. "I'm not talking down on your wife, you got to listen to me. You've had Ouroboros your entire life, it activates as a coping mechanism to trauma.. My dad killed my Mom in front of me and in result.. my brain did this to me, the same thing happened with your wife right? You've always had Ouroboros in your blood, I have to.."
Jake wasn't having it, just him mentioning his wife made him pissed off. Tackling Jaklo with success just as he began to get weak, getting a few solid punches into his ribs before being kicked off with success to the raccoon. The Jackal would stumble back and hit his head along a shelf, allowing the raccoon to stand and talk again. "Because I get it too.. I know you do, I know why it exists.. There's probably more people out there with this power, because we all wish we could go back.. we all wish we could stop what happened but we CANT, GOT IT? You're fooling yourself, and so is our own blood."
Jake raised his bloodied fists, staggering for a moment. "You're fooling me, you're trying to talk your way out of this because you're like ME. I told you earlier, I'm stronger than you. I know you're running out of time, soon you'll be stuck here fighting your own Fate for eternity, that's how this works right? That's our curse.. this isn't a blessing. Someday, time will stop for us and we'll be stuck in a loop forever. What happens after death then, huh?"
The raccoon acknowledged this, stopping in his spot and lowering his guard before shrugging "I guess we'll have to live until that happens, huh?" Jaklo would have to stop himself from smiling, watching as Jake's expression falters from anger to a saddened one. He didn't have much time to relish in the progress of convincing the lunatic to spare him, another fist would swing and then he'd be shoved to the ground. Jake would watch as blood was now seeping from Jaklo's eyes, choking him with his hands. "THAT'S RIGHT.. THERE IS NO WE, I'M STRONGER! MY WIFE DIED FOR NOTHING.. THIS MAY BE A CURSE BUT AT LEAST IT ALLOWS ME TO AVENGE HER ... by whatever means necessary" Jaklo was really struggling, he found it harder and harder to pre cognate as he slammed his forearms down into Jake's fists. Desperate to break the choke hold.. "Listen.. Let's get a beer-- Let's talk about it..-"
This only caused the Jackal to tighten his hold on the raccoon's throat "I'm not having a drink with my wife's killer." His snarl was louder, Jaklo got weaker and weaker and there was a point where it felt like his head was splitting in two, was he really going to be stuck here for eternity fighting a rigged fight where his only purpose is to be beaten by this obviously stronger man? He'd think, continuing to endure the choking before simply smiling at Jake. "We could've.. been great partners.. We could have killed him together, we're both unstoppable.. Together we'll put an end to this nightmare, Jake.. your wife wouldn't want-- this.. neither would my mother."
He didn't give it much thought, be Jaklo had unlocked Jake's empathetic side. Back from when he was a cop, the many small tasks he had forgotten like returning children that ran away from home, stopping a suicide or even the really simple tasks like saving a cat from a tree in his spare time. He was a good cop, and that's why Jaklo telling him that his wife wouldn't want him to kill an innocent person was correct. His expression would dull, growing saddened as his hands slowly eased off of Jaklo's neck. Like the court always used to say, people are innocent until proven guilty and this applied to Jaklo. Who was now ecstatic and panting heavily, happy that he was able to make him see clearly. Jaklo desperately gathered his breath back. Gazing up at his almost-killer, standing to his feet and leaning back against the wall for a much needed break.
"How about that beer, .. huh?" Jaklo added, narrowing his eyes and staring at his look-alike. He had already grown fond for him, using his backhand to rub the blood away from his lip.
"Maybe in a little.. for now you're coming with me, like you said we're doing this together." Jake sat his back to the floor, staring up at Jaklo as he talked.
"We can talk here then?" Jaklo again added, hoping to clear some things up. And to which Jake would reply back immediately
"Hit me with whatever questions you're.. for some reason dying to know."
"Not really a question, but it's funny.. you could've killed me very easily and you didn't. I know you weren't going to, you missed purposefully with the many shells you fired at me. You were curious about me, weren't you?" Jaklo asked, suddenly slouching down the dusty wall and sitting along the floor with his knees raised kind of like Jake.
"You got me dead to rights then, at first I blew your head off and then you reconstructed things.. just like I do. I was curious, but at the same time I felt like killing you. My wife wouldn't want that, all this time I convinced myself she would.. especially the night when I discovered I could pre-cognate, I guess I've always been an Outsider and didn't know it, huh.. I thought every power was unique, every Outsider has a different ability, yet.. we both have Ouroboros."
Jaklo looked a little smug, shrugging yet again and letting out a long sigh. "Beats the fuck out of me, maybe Ouroboros is infinite.. like the name implies, that's my theory now. Ah-- well.. it's either that my friend or.." The raccoon's eyes would meet with Jakes, smiling at him passionately. "Or.. we're Brothers by Blood."
Jake's expression loosened up a little bit, his lower lip raising as he looked around the room and seemed to be thinking. "Sounds about right, you're sluggish.. almost like you're not as good as me. Either that or you're a very calculated man" He added.
Jaklo would frown, the happy expression washing away almost immediately, his eyes would say it all. "Some of my blood was- removed from my body a while ago and replaced. It sucks man, you ever gotten headaches or anything like that from overusing your power?"
"Yeah?" Jake played along.
Jaklo would chuckle and continue talking, this was the happiest he seemed to be in years. "It's.. hah- it's technically like that man, only for me it's every 4 or 5 roll-backs.. basically I gotta be precise, so I can take a beating but I can't take a lethal blow." The raccoon wiped some blood away from his nose and eyes while talking, wincing a little bit as he noticed the headache again.
"Roll-backs.. you mean, like when we reconstruct whatever happened?"
Jaklo would point his finger enthusiastically "Exactly like that."
The pair presumably became well acquainted after the fight, Jaklo could have easily lost his life thanks to Jake having the upper hand but as the sun began to set once more. They knew they needed to head back out of the dim neighbourhood, the sun was covered by the clouds as they left back to the well lit camp. This would keep bats away.
Ellis hugged Jaklo was he got back, thankfully not as injured as he thought he'd be. Jake walking straight past the two as they hugged and approaching an angry Ragnarok. The shark was unhappy with him presumably running off for no reason, but was comforted by the thought they had new members to the rebellion team. Rasmus didn't really pay it much mind, he was warming his bones by the fire just as the sun sunk beneath the distant horizon through the thousands of trees. The crackling fire was comforting, yet it delivered him dread as all he could think about was the fire he had going in the tunnels moment before he had to kill his own allies.
They had a lot more friends, and with that they had more hope than before with stopping the Musician. There was talks of an uprising occuring in Stardown at some point, but they needed to learn how to do so. They'd need a lot more men to go against the Musician and take him down, it seemed to be the one way to stop him from ending the world.
Jaklo was able to get sleep that night, he collapsed into a tent provided for him and felt fatigue for the first time in a while. This was a moment of peace that he savoured deeply, to be lost in his own dreams once more and to have a moment to himself to think how he was going to rescue Rosco. Jake crossed his mind as well, he felt he had a friend he could relate to now and this again made him smile. Despite all the things that had happened in the past few days, this seemed like things were looking up. Maybe there was a reward for trying after all, even if it all seemed futile in the end.